In a first for Yankee Stadium, the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils battled it out during
the Coors Light NHL Stadium Series at the home of the Bronx Bombers last month.

OTTAWA—For 60 years, Canada’s CBC-TV
has been broadcasting NHL games via its
Hockey Night in Canada production
unit. But the problems HNIC faced
when covering the Jan. 26, 2014 matchup
between the New York Rangers and
the New Jersey Devils were definitely
not what they were accustomed to. That’s
because this afternoon game was held
outdoors at Yankee Stadium, during the
midst of the “polar vortex” that was super-chilling
the Eastern seaboard. As a result,
the HNIC crew had to deal with below-freezing
temperatures, frigid winds, and
snow showers.

But the biggest issue wasn’t the cold
but rather the intense sunlight reflecting
off the ice surface, which blinded players
and cameras alike. It was so bad, that
“we had to delay the puck drop by about
35 minutes because of the glare,” said Joel
Darling, HNIC’s executive producer. The
subsequent arrival of clouds was a relief,
even though they dumped snow on the ice
during the second period. The Rangers won
the game 7-3.

ADVENTURES IN BROADCASTING
Weather was just one of the challenges
faced by the HNIC crew, which has been
shooting regular season outdoor games
since the NHL launched the 2003 Heritage
Classic between the Montreal Canadians
and the Edmonton Oilers at Edmonton’s
open-air Commonwealth Stadium, home to
the Edmonton Eskimos Canadian Football
League team.

Joel Darling, executive producer for “Hockey Night In Canada”

Compared to the outdoor conditions of
that game, last month’s match in New York
was comparatively balmy. The temperature
at Commonwealth Stadium during the
2003 Heritage Classic was –22 degrees below
zero (once the wind chill was factored
in). For the record, the Canadians beat the
Oilers with a score of 4-3.

The 2003 game also marked the first
high-definition NHL game shown on CBC,
according to Darling. “Because we didn’t
have our own HD mobile unit at that time,
we had to bring in a Japanese game show
truck based in New York City. Edmonton
was so cold, our fiber-optic cables got brittle
and kept snapping.”

The game in New York is part of the
NHL’s “Coors Light NHL Stadium Series,”
which consists of four games, two at Yankee
Stadium, one at Dodger Stadium in Los
Angeles and the final match next month at
Soldier Field in Chicago between the Pittsburgh
Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks.
These games are distinct from the New
Year’s Day “NHL Winter Classic” and “NHL
Heritage Classic” outdoor games.

Normally, the HNIC crew (and their U.S.
counterparts at NBC) shoot hockey games
in arenas where camera positions, commentator/
production space, and the necessary
production and cabling are already in
place.

Shooting outdoor games, which are typically
located at baseball or football stadiums,
is a complete departure from HNIC’s
indoor routine. “It’s always a new building
to us,” said Darling. Because these venues
are not designed for hockey’s 180-degree
style of video coverage, “the biggest challenges are the sightlines and the camera
positions,” he said.

A case in point: The Jan. 25, 2014 outdoor
night game at Los Angeles’ Dodgers
Stadium – between the Los Angeles Kings
and the Anaheim Ducks—was played on a
refrigerated ice surface laid out lengthwise
between first and third base, close to home
plate. “We were able to secure the camera
positions at first and third,” said Darling.
“But we had to find new positions for the
rest of our cameras.”

Shooting an outdoor game in Los Angeles
was pleasant, given that it was a comfortable
61 degrees on a clear California
night, but comfort was hard to find in New
York the next day. “Our people are out
there for five to six hours, once you factor
in pre-game preparations,” said Darling.
“We had to make sure they were warmly
dressed, properly fed, and comfortable for
the entire run.”

FLEET OF TRUCKS
To cover these events, HNIC relies on
a fleet of HD mobile trucks leased from
CBC Mobile Productions, the for-profit
mobile production arm of the CBC. At the
New York game, HNIC used the company’s
53-foot Infinity HD trailer equipped with
a Grass Valley Kalypso switcher, Calrec
Artemis audio console, six Sony HDC-
1500 HH camera, two six-channel XT3
EVS servers, and a four channel Spotbox
and X-File, supplemented by CBC Mobile’s
Champion Production-B unit. In Los Angeles,
HNIC used CBC Mobile’s Premiere HD
unit, a 53-foot trailer with a Grass Kalypso
switcher, SSL C100 audio console, three
EVS six-channelXT2 servers and a mix of
four Sony HDC-1000 and five HDC-1500
cameras.

“Whenever we can, we like to dress
up the shoot,” Darling said. “For instance,
for the upcoming NHL Heritage Classic
in Vancouver on March 2—between the
Canucks and the Ottawa Senators—we’ll
be installing a CableCam at BC Place Stadium.”

HNIC’s crew will get a bit of a break
for the Vancouver game. For one thing, BC
Place Stadium has a retractable roof, with
the stands being covered even when it
is open. For another, March temperatures
in this west coast Canadian city range
from above freezing to the mid –40s, so
HNIC’s crews should be relatively comfortable.

This said, Darling isn’t complaining
about shooting NHL games in cold weather.
In fact, he relishes the experience. “It’s
a truly magical experience, what with the
big crowds, the large venues, and even
the weather and all that it brings,” he said.
“Everyone—the fans, players, and our people—
know that an outdoor NHL game is a
really special event, and they all love being
part of it.”

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The FAA’s current rules and proposed ban on flight over people, requirement of visual line of sight and restriction on nighttime flying, effectively prohibit broadcasters from using UAS for newsgathering. ~ WMUR-TV General Manager Jeff Bartlett